Love the stuff you are
putting on the web these days ...especially
"real" questions from new believers and/or
seekers.
Well, to Erich's question
about how to talk to God.
The primary difference
between Christianity and all other
religions is all "religions" are based on
doing things to impress and win God's
favor. Christianity, on the other hand, is
about "relationship" with a person - Jesus
Christ. As with any relationship, your
relationship with Jesus must be developed
over time. At first, it may seem awkward
speaking to someone who is invisible (God is
Spirit), but just because something is
invisible doesn't mean it isn't there. I
love to think about the wind... you can't
see it, but the leaves and the trees and the
boat sails give evidence that it is real.
Begin where you are (like any
other new relationship), but be real. Lots
of times, especially when we are trying to
get someone to like us, we only show our
good side and we try to hide our faults and
our shortcomings. With God (Jesus) we don't
have to do that because He already knows all
about us, even the very number of hairs on
our head. In other words, He knows us
better than we know ourselves.
Like any relationship, it
will take time to become really intimate.
But God wants us to have an intimate
relationship with Him. In fact, He wants to
be our first love, the primary relationship
in our lives.
So, talk to Him like you
would talk to anyone you really wanted to
get to know. Maybe, something like this:
"Jesus, it's hard for me to talk to you
because I cannot see you. If you were here
I could see your expressions and hear your
voice unmistakably. I know you want me to
trust You, and that You want me to have
faith (to believe in things that I cannot
see). It's hard, and it's new, but I have
decided that I'm going to tell you all about
my concerns, my joys, my hurts, my worries,
my likes, and my dislikes. I want you to
know everything about me. It will just be
me and You. I know I can talk to you in
confidence because You love me so much that
You died for me. Your word, the Bible, says
that you "demonstrated" your love for me by
dying while I was still sinning (Romans
5:8). Thank you for not only telling me
that you love me, but actually doing
something so incredible to prove your love.
I want to know more about you, so I'm going
to read my Bible regularly, especially the
gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
because they record your actual words when
you were here on earth. I'll bet Your other
friends had many of the same questions I
do. And I know I'll have lots of other
questions, but when they come up, I'm just
going to ask You and then wait for Your
answer. Your Word promises me that if I
trust You, I never have to be ashamed
(Romans 10:11), so I know I can share
ANYTHING with You and You will not reject
me. Thank You for Your great unconditional
love for me. Please help me to get to know
You more."
Now, those are the words I
might use based on my personality. You use
your own words. And remember, you NEVER
have to apologize to God when you are truly
seeking Him. Be honest and be real. Don't
try to impress God because He already knows
your heart. Just tell Him what you're
thinking and what you're feeling. He can
even handle it when you are mad or
confused. David, who wrote many of the
Psalms, was always "real" with God in his
prayers. He told God what he saw around him
(especially things that didn't seem fair)
and let God show him how to change. Do the
same. Tell God what life looks like to you,
and you will be surprised at how God will
show Himself to you.
Your friend and brother in
Christ,
Tom
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August 15,
2005
Beloved Brother Joe,
Thanks
for your good answer
to my question.
I agree and it's
exactly correct.
Is it the answer
from god? If
really, I think
God is really a
healer. I should
talk more with him,
and pray every
day. So, he
will take me and my
familiars and my
neighbours a good
life.
I also
learned more from
your website.
Please tell us more
from there.
Hanson
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August 13,
2005
These are
not ALL in the family, but they are all IN the
family. CLICK HERE
for today's entry.
August
11/12, 2005
REAL QUESTIONS
Calling you who are spiritual. Any Elders? Any
Teachers? Anyone who has a WORD from the Lord? We
all have some questions and we belong to each other.
Would you help me help them? Email me anything that
you think may be useful.
Hello Joe
It's Josh here. I've found a church to go to and I'm
about to start going. But I am still unsure how to
speak to god. Would you have some tips. I've
acquired a bible as well.
Catch you later
Josh
and Erich writes ...
I think god may be true but im not sure. But 1
thing i know is that someone is up there and i dont
no how to talk to him or her can you tell me what to
do next?
It is easy to talk to God (prayer) ... anytime
anywhere. He is a friend at all times and though you
don't see Him, He is always listening. He knows your
thoughts so He is not confused about you, even when
you are. He loves to here you speak to Him because
He wants you to realize His presence and His love.
Here's one thing on
daily prayers ...
but if I let you leave, you have to come back to the
site ...
http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/day/index.html
Prayer
A privilege and an obligation of the Christian
where we communicate with God. It is how we convey
our confession (1
John 1:9),
requests (1
Tim. 2:1-3),
intercessions (James
5:15),
thanksgiving (Phil.
4:6), etc.,
to our holy God. We are commanded to pray
(1
Thess. 5:17).
Some personal requirements of prayer are a pure
heart (Psalm
66:18),
belief in Christ (John
14:13), and
that the prayer be according to God's will
(1
John 5:13).
We can pray standing (Neh.
9:5), kneeling (Ezra
9:5),
sitting (1
Chron. 17:16-27),
bowing (Exodus
34:8), and
with lifted hands (1
Tim. 2:8).
August 10,
2005
Hanson, Thanks for
reminding me about God's plans for our healing.
Sometimes He doesn't do things how we think they
should be done.
Sometimes He uses momentary
troubles to provide eternal solutions:
(OPEN DOORS).
He always does what is best
for us and is our HEALER. Read the rest of our
Theology of Suffering and Healing.
hi it it is Erich Delamore [from Australia] and I got your email off josh and i want to talk my
email is [ask joe] email me please
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Dear
Joseph Patterson,
Greetings to you in
the most highly
exalted name of our
Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ.I am
very sorry to tell
you that we have
regular heavy rains.
Many of our
surrounding areas
have been covered
with water. Did I
tell you we live in
a tiny village? It
is a slum area on a
marshy land. The
streets have become
muddy and so we have
no way and there is
no way to come out.
You may read the
news in your
newspapers or watch
on the TVs. The
heavy rains and the
floods have
devastated some more
states in our
country. Anyhow we
are safe under His
mighty wings. There
is a lot of
hindrance for my
Gospel out reach
work. People are in
a helpless
condition. Please
pray that they may
be restored to the
normal life. I have
to come to the town
to send you emails.
Please accept my
sincere apologies
for the delay of my
emails to you. I
earnestly wish to
send emails to you
every day. But I
have no a computer
of my own. I have to
come to the town
everyday to send
emails. They charge
40 Indian rupees for
one hour. It is
equal to one US
dollar. So I request
you to be kind
enough to understand
my inconvenience in
sending emails to
you. Any way you are
in my continual
thoughts and
prayers. I hope in
Jesus that you would
be kind enough to
uplift me in your
regular prayers.
Please send me
emails whenever you
can and I will
respond to them all
at once.
Sincerely your
brother in Christ,
Praveen Babu
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Dear Joseph,
Thank you for your reply. I praise and thank God that He
has privileged me once again to be in touch with you. I get your email
in a Gust book. Believe that God has a special plan in bringing us both
together. I wish to have correspondence regarding spiritual things. In
this way we both can encourage each other and strengthen in spirit and
mind. In fact I am in need of your regular prayers and cooperation so
that I can save the perishing souls. We know that these are the last
days and His coming is very imminent. I am very sad that many people are
dying without knowing Jesus as their personal Savior.
As a young
man I dedicated my life to spread the Gospel and lead as many as I can
before I leave the earth and before the coming of the Lord. In this
regard I need the cooperation of co-workers in His vineyard. Please pray
on my behalf that God may raise a number of co-workers to cooperate with
me for the extension of the Kingdom of God.
Sincerely in
Christ,
Evangelist.O.Praveen Babu
JULY 23,2005 Joe Wrote:
I can't promise
to remember, but I
will try to pray for
you.
I am on a tour
with friends right
now sharing the love
of Jesus, so if you
could pray
for me as well it
would be
appreciated.
Any efforts that
you
could make to verify
your identity or
connect me with
people who could
speak on your behalf
would be great for
our future
relationships
...
Also, how did you
get my email
address??????????
Later,
Joseph
July 20th I
received this note
in a cyber bottle:
Dear Joseph
Patterson,
In the most highly
exalted name of our
Lord
and Savior Jesus
Christ I greet you.
I believe that God
has privileged
me to send this
email to you. I come
to you in the name
of Jesus. I am
an Evangelist by
name O.Praveen Babu
from India. I am a
fresh Bible
college student who
has completed three
years course of B.Th.
I am a
young man of 20
years with a zeal
and ambition to
spread the Gospel in
the never reached
areas. In this
regard I wish to
have your prayerful
encouragement. If
you have any
suggestion please
don’t hesitate. My
aim
is to win the
perishing souls.
Please remember my
efforts in your
regular prayers. At
the same time I wish
to continue to
correspondence
with you for a
spiritual
fellowship. I wish
for a reciprocal
cooperation
in the extension of
the Kingdom of God.
If you want to ask
about me any
thing please email
me and I will tell
you more about
myself and at the
same time I wish to
know about you. I
await your reply
prayerfully.
Sincerely in the
Master’s
service,
Evangelist.O.Praveen
Babu
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August 9,
2005
Fishing is like Witnessing and the church is
the boat. Are you the bait or the fisher of man?
awat !?! Gotta go clean my fish. If you wanna
know what this is all about ... ask
my father
(click the link
after you read my blog).
Daddy??
Am I a
shepherd
or a
fisherman??
News From the
Field ▼▼ ...
God answers prayers. Can He get a WITNESS??
Thanks, Hanson.
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Dear Brothers,
Thank you for your
kindness and your praying for me.
Today, I feel much better.
Yesterday, I promised to give
you the information about my question
about god.
Now let me told you, The number in
the bible is Page 13, MATTHEW5,
33--35. Why it said "But not swear
at all: beither by heaven, for it is
God's throne;". We promise to
somebody, sometime it mean we love
him/her, so we promise him/her
something, to making them happy and
let them feel they are in love. And
we will keep the promise. If we do
so, it is right, but why the Matthew
said not swear at all!
Thanks for your reading my
question.
These years, I just facing
about many family problem. It make
worry and sad all the time. Now, I
pray, but, why, my family is still
have so many problem, why it broke,
why it poor and my familiars can not
have a better life. It's unfair!
Brothers, do you please also
help me to answers about this
question?
I pray for you!
A missing Lamp,
Hanson
-
ChinaWithin seconds of this email I received a
message from
Natalie in
Singapore... "Hope you're
doing ok and I'll be praying for you, as
well as your friend Hanson." |
August
8, 2005
ON Thursday,
August
4, 2005
Pastorob
wrote:
TODAY,
I want you to read an email that Joe received from a
19 year old in mainland China. Joe met Hanson in
Hong Kong, at an indoor mall, when his group sang.
Through one-on-one conversation, Joe was able to
share the gospel and give a Bible to Hanson. Since
Hanson was heading back to the interior of communist
China, he asked Joe for 2 Bibles.
I was pleased to learn that Joe had collected email
addresses from those young people who made decisions
through his witness. However, often times we lose
contact with the people we meet as we testify over
time. HOW THRILLED we are that Hanson has written in
response to Joe's general epistle. READ BELOW to see
what God has already with internet connection
between two 19 teenagers:
To
my dear Brother Joe,
Glad to receive your e-mail. Just now, I
just sharing Jesus' love with my friend, I was
trying to tell her about Jesus.
As everyone first learn about Jesus, I
have got many question. I wish you was being
with me and so I can ask you about the question
that I have whenever.
But unfortunitely, my English is not good enough
for me to express the question to you. So, I
tried to find out the answers by myself by
reading The Bible. And I will try to find a
church around me and to find somebody to teach
me
Tell me more about Jesus. Thanks, my
brother!!!
I will pray for you!
Hanson
P.S. The Bible tell us never swear. Would you
answer it to me? Thanks!
Joe's Original Letter to
his contacts:
To All of You: (Joshua, Ashleigh, Jason,
Enrich, Noel, Dale, Chris, Ryan, Shan Shan,Kenny,
Albert, Marco, Hanson, Edward, Alan, Alex, and
last but not least, Jeremy)
Sorry
that it took a few days, or weeks for some of you to
receive this first message from me. I have been
quite busy performing and talking to people about
the love of Jesus and how they can be forgiven and
be sure that they will go to heaven.
I
wanted to once again congratulate you on your brand
new life with Jesus. Since God has been working in
your heart and you have accepted his love you are a
Child of God-- my brothers, and yes Shan Shan, you
are my sister.
If you
have a Bible, you may read in the book of John
chapter 3 where it talks about becoming Born Again.
Basically, we have a new life in which God has given
us the power to make good decisions all of the tiime.
I pray that you have all been sharing Jesus' love
and forgiveness with your friends, listening to God
and making good choices.
But
in case you have not ... just remember that God has
already forgiven you and if you feel away from Him,
apologize and ask Him to remind you of His love.
Ok, so
if you are Born Again-- then you are babies in God's
family. Babies do not know very much and so they
need to be taught. I am here to help. I am your
brother, Joe or Joseph and have been listening to
Jesus, reading the Bible and attending church for
most of my life. I should be able to answer many of
your questions or I will find someone who can. Of
course the answers should come from God's Word, the
Bible. But I know where to look.
The
first thing that I would like to teach you is
Proverbs 3:5,6 . For those of you who gave me your
addresses, you should be receiving a postcard with
this verse on it. This is a good verse reminding us
that we dont need to know the answers-- we just need
to follow God because He does.
Proverbs 3:5,6 Trust in the Lord with all your
heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all
your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your
paths straight.
Ok,
does that make sense? If we trust in God he will
make things work out for the best. That doesnt mean
no pain, but we know that He is always with us.
ANY
QUESTIONS???? Ask them all and send them all to me.
I know that many of you have questions, I had sooo
many when I first learned about Jesus. So, help each
other out. Send the questions to me and I will
answer them to the group if appropriate or to you
individually. We can learn so much more together
than by ourselves.
CHURCH??? Each one of you should find a good
church to attend. 1) It should teach about Jesus'
forgiveness as the only way to be saved. 2) It
should teach the Bible as the Word of God and not
place any man's opinion on that level. 3) They
should be friendly and love each other.
If you
don't already have a church, I would recommend
finding a Baptist Church, they are generally pretty
good. This will really help you find Christians and
people who can help you any time.
For
you in China, look hard, Christians are around --
under every log and carpet they may be hiding but
they are working hard for God and are very alive.
Join them and obey God rather than men.
ALL OF
YOU: Share Jesus' love when God gives you the
opportunity. If you are glad that I talked with you
then make me glad by telling others. Yes Tasmanians
and Australians, But Hong Kong people and China
people all the more. There will be much less freedom
to share in the future-- so when God tells you to
help someone learn about Jesus ... JUST DO IT.
Do
not be discouraged if some people reject your
message. They even rejected Jesus, and He is God.
Just obey God and He will accomplish His perfect
will through you.
NOW.
Your first step is to EMAIL ME.
THEN get away from the computer and tell someone
about how Jesus wants to forgive their sins.
check
out my journal page if you have time www.fbcgalt.org/csb1.htm
and if you like good music than can teach you about
Jesus it is on Pastorob's Blog or the Audio Download
page from www.fbcgalt.org
Later,
Joe
